VII
PTIA is also the corporate headquarters of
HAECO Americas
, formerly known as TIMCO Aviation
Services. HAECO provides aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services, and acquired TIMCO
Aviation services for $388 million in 2014. The company has 1,600 employees at PTIA and additional
employees at its interiors manufacturing facility in Wallburg, Davidson County. It services both wide-body
and small body aircraft and is able to provide both high-end interiors for luxury airliners as well as more
modest coach configurations. In addition to the four existing hangars in operation at PTIA
,
HAECO is
planning a new $32 million, 180,000 square-foot hanger construction project at PTIA that would create up to
500 jobs, with the City offering an economic incentive grant of $400,000 to be paid out over five years if
certain jobs are created. Pending approvals of FAA permits and other State agencies, the hangar may be
completed by 2018.
Honda Aircraft Company
, a division of Honda Motor Company, has invested $140 million to establish its
world headquarters, along with manufacturing, testing, training,
maintenance and customer service facilities, comprising over
600,000 square feet, on its 130-acre campus at PTIA. The
company currently employs 1,300 people in the area. In December
of 2015, following 12 years of design and testing, the HondaJet
HA-420, a lightweight 7-passenger passenger jet, received final
FAA type certification. HondaJet then received FAA production
certification in June, 2016. These certifications together enable
Honda to produce, flight test, and issue airworthiness certificates for customers. Thirteen jets have been
delivered, thus far. The company expects HondaJet to be a formidable player in the light business jet market
and will target sales in North America and Europe. Annual production may reach 80 to 90 units with expected
profitability by 2020. The City Council had previously approved an economic incentive grant in the amount
of $523,750 ($1,250 per new job) for Honda Aircraft Company. The grant was provided for the purpose of
real property improvements, new equipment and creating jobs.
North Carolina's Piedmont Triad region, already a regional logistics hub, hopes to continue to build on that
strength with an initiative to create an “aerotropolis” aimed at positioning the region as the global logistics
center of the U.S. East Coast. Building on the region's logistics base will help recoup some of the jobs lost in
the textile and furniture industries over the past decade. The Triad's location, halfway between New York and
Florida and Atlanta and Washington, D.C., and the fact that half of the U.S. population is within 650 miles
(1,046 km.), are major advantages. FedEx and Honda Aircraft are expected to create approximately 200,000
jobs over a 16 year period.
In the City’s downtown area, an approximate $60 million large-scale mixed-use project, currently named
Carroll at Bellemeade,
is planned for completion in 2017. The development will include 288 upscale
apartments and a 110 room, six-story mid-market Hyatt Place Hotel. The hotel will be within walking
distance of NewBridge Bank Baseball Park and the proposed Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts.